Brandon groaned. He had just woken up, and he was not looking forward to what the day had in store for him. He begrudgingly got up out of bed and went through the morning routine he had ignored for all of summer. After about half an hour, he and Crys left the house and started walking down the sidewalk.
"I wish we didn't have to do this." He said, annoyed.
"Me too." Crys replied, just as annoyed. "I'm not looking forward to all the boring classes and annoying popular kids picking on us."
"I hope things are different this year." Brandon commented.
"I doubt it. I mean, last year it took what? Only a few days for Josh to start going after us?"
"I think it was the first day, actually."
"Maybe? I don't remember. The point is that we're not going to catch a break."
"Okay, well, maybe if we just try to lay low this year we won't get into any drama."
Crys pondered the idea, then shrugged after a couple moments. "Who knows." She said.
A few quiet moments passed.
"So who do you have in your classes this year?" Brandon asked.
"Well, I've got you in most of my classes, thankfully. I think it's just math, science, and English where we're not together."
"Oh, yeah." Brandon said. "I forgot."
"Emma is in my math class and Tomas is in my science class. I'm on my own for English, though."
"I think Tomas is in my English class and I have Emma in my science. I don't think I have either of them for math."
"Good luck, then." Crys teased.
"I can handle a math class without being tutored by one of them, but you on the other hand... I don't know..." Brandon teased back.
"It's cause I'm a werewolf, isn't it?"
"Yeah, sure, uh-huh."
Crys gave a small laugh, and Brandon couldn't help but crack up a bit as well.
"I'm sure we'll both be fine." Brandon said.
"Hey, at least we all have P.E. together again." Crys added on.
"Wow." Brandon said, a bit dramatically.
"What?" Crys asked.
"You looking on the bright side? Who are you and what have you done with Crys?" Brandon joked.
Crys nudged Brandon's arm for the joke. She cracked a smile but wouldn't let herself laugh. "I'm not responding to that." She said, responding to Brandon.
Brandon chuckled.
The two friends kept making their way to school, walking side by side. They were happy, and for the first time in a while things just felt normal again.
Arriving at school, Crys and Brandon made their way through the cramped hallways to get to their first class. Neither of them cared much to check in with any of their classmates, especially considering none of them were friends. They just found their seats and waited for class to begin. They knew that somewhere in the building Tomas and Emma were finding their classes as well. Crys was looking forward to sitting down at lunch with the two of them and everyone just getting to chat for a bit. There wasn't much else to look forward to aside from going home, after all.
The first class went smoothly, if not boring. Being the first day, class was just introductions all around. The teacher introduced themself, the students introduced themselves, and the syllabus, since it was just a piece of paper, was introduced by the teacher. It was mind numbing and tiring, especially that early in the morning as everyone was still waking up. The class afterwards was just as dull, and so was the class after that. The only perk of the classes being so dull on the first day was that the stress of the oncoming rest of the school year was able to slowly work its way in instead of hitting the students like a truck speeding along the highway. That, and it gave a decent idea of what to expect for the individual classes as well, like knowing if the teachers were going to be terrible to deal with or not. Thankfully, though, after those first three classes were over, it was time for lunch.
Crys and Brandon made their way to the cafeteria and found their old table from last year, with Tomas and Emma already seated there. They took their usual places at the table to join their friends. The four of them chatted for a bit, mostly talking about how bored they were in their first few classes of the day. Nobody bothered them. It was quite peaceful, but unfortunately, it didn't last long. Lunch was over soon enough, and it was back to the dull day.
The four friends made their way down the cramped hallways of the school through the sea of other students.
"But at least nobody's messed with us, yet." Brandon said, continuing a conversation he and his friends were having.
"Don't jinx it." Crys said.
"Anything that happens would merely be a coincidence." Emma chimed in.
"Yeah, I don't think jinxing is a thing, Crys." Tomas added.
"It's just a figure of speech, guys. You guys take things too literally sometimes." Crys joked.
"Well, sorry, Ms. Sarcasm." Tomas joked in reply.
Emma just shrugged. She didn't have much to say.
"Ow." Brandon said as someone bumped their arm into his as they ran past him.
"Hey!" Crys called out, not very loudly. "Jerk." She muttered under her breath. "You okay?" She turned to Brandon.
"Yeah." He replied.
"What's got them all in a rush?" Tomas asked. He saw there were actually a few more students heading in the same direction as the one who bumped into Brandon.
Crys looked down the hall and tried to focus. All she could hear from that direction was a bunch of noise. She couldn't make out anything. It was just noise.
"What is it?" Brandon asked Crys, noticing her attention.
"I don't know." She responded. "I can't really make anything out. I just hear a bunch of shouting and stuff."
"So, normal high school stuff, I would assume." Tomas said.
"No, it sounds more... I-I don't know." Crys started walking down the hall, pushing her way through the sea of students that got denser and denser as she made her way forwards.
Tomas grunted. "She really needs to stop doing that." He murmured. "Come on, let's go make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble, again."
Brandon quickly made his way forwards as well, leaving Tomas and Emma to catch up with him later.
Crys made her way to the front of the crowd. She was now standing on the edge of a large circle made up of students and hallway walls. On the inside of the circle were two students, one with a knife, and both of them visibly furious with each other, and very much trying to kill the other. Crys' immediate reaction was one of shock and confusion, but once that passed just a second later, she jumped into the fray to get the two students to knock it off.
"Both of you stop, now!" Crys demanded. Neither of the two boys listened to her. They just kept fighting.
Crys realized she was going to have to actually step in and do more than just ask them a little impolitely to stop. She figured it would be best to start with the one actually holding a weapon, so she ran up to the student with the knife and punched him across the face, causing him to stumble back. Of course, Crys didn't put her full strength into the punch, but it still hurt. Unfortunately, this action also made her a target now as well.
The second student ran up to Crys and punched her in the back, then he got jabbed in the gut by Crys' elbow. In retaliation, he swiftly recomposed himself and punched Crys in the face now that she was facing him. Crys, not wanting to deal with this any more than she had to, punched the student in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. The student collapsed to the floor, trying to catch his breath.
Crys was about to start walking away when she heard the first student start running at her. She had to jump back to dodge a slash of the knife, then she kicked the student back a bit so she could try to keep some distance. All the while, the students surrounding them kept hooting and hollering. Crys couldn't make out if it was cheering or screaming or what. She didn't care. She was just trying to keep from getting hurt. The boy with the knife got back up and rushed at Crys again. She stepped to the side to avoid the knife blade, but the student threw a punch just after that she didn't expect. It landed square in her face. Crys swiftly recovered then she dodged the follow up punch from the student, but it wasn't what she should have focused on. She felt a sharp pain in her side and she knew exactly what had happened. She was furious. She threw a sharp punch to the jaw of the student before her, putting a decent amount of her strength behind it. The student fell to the floor and spit out some blood from his mouth along with a tooth.
Crys stood triumphant. The students around her hushed. There was no more screaming or cheering. Crys picked her head up and looked around. She had a look on her face that screamed that she was just done with everything. She put a hand on the handle of the knife that was now lodged in her side. She knew it was a bad idea to just yank it out, so she just left it there, moving her hand and trying to put some pressure on her side instead. She walked out of the circle of students and back down the hall. All the other students backed away. Some did it in respect, others in fear. Regardless, they made a path for Crys.
Brandon ran up to Crys. He had seen the whole thing, getting just close enough to the front of the crowd to see the fight unfold. Now he was standing next to Crys, absolutely horrified to see a knife sticking out of her gut. He had no words. He just put an arm around Crys' side to try and help steady her, and she reciprocated by putting her arm around Brandon's shoulder and putting some of her weight on him. The two of them hobbled down the hallway as the school staff finally arrived at the scene. It didn't take long for them to haul the two beaten students away as well as call Crys an ambulance. Brandon stayed with Crys as long as he could, but once the paramedics arrived, they took her away and he was left to answer questions and then resume the school day afterwards like nothing had happened. He wouldn't be able to focus the rest of the day, being racked with worry for Crys.
Tomas and Emma had seen the fight as well, though only the very tail end of it as well as the aftermath. They had stayed with Crys and Brandon after the fight was over, but they were forced back to class as Brandon remained with Crys a bit longer. They were going to ask about what had happened, but they would do it later, once things had settled.
With that, the rest of the school day passed agonizingly slowly, at least for the three friends who were stuck there. During P.E., Brandon would fill Tomas and Emma in on what he had witnessed, bringing them up to speed. The other classes were just filled with listening to the ticking of the clock, desperately waiting for it to be time to leave.
Once school finally let out, Brandon rushed home in a hurry, not knowing what else to do. When he reached his house, he quickly unlocked and opened the door, then ran inside. He was desperately hoping Crys was okay, but he didn't even know where she was. She had only mentioned that she would call him later. That was it. That was all he knew.
"I'm up here." Crys called out from upstairs.
Brandon's attention turned upstairs. He ran up to Crys' room as fast as he could and found his friend laying down on her bed in a fresh outfit that wasn't stained with blood.
"Crys, are-are you okay?" Brandon blurted out.
Crys turned her head to look at Brandon. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well, mostly." She said. "The doctors took the knife out and stitched me up. Said I was lucky. The knife didn't hit anything important, thankfully." She sat upright with a pained grunt. "And look what I got to keep." She said as she took the pocket knife that had stabbed her out of her pocket.
"You... you kept the knife?" Brandon asked, all his worry now just turning to pure confusion.
"Yeah. That guy stabbed me with it. It's mine now. It's like a little souvenir, or a memento, or something."
"They just let you have it?" Brandon asked, still baffled.
"Well, I had to ask really nicely. Plus, I told the police I wasn't pressing charges or anything, so they didn't need to take it as evidence. Besides, I think all the witnesses would be enough evidence anyways." Crys explained rather calmly.
Brandon took a deep breath. "I-I'm just glad you're okay." He said.
"Well," Crys pulled up her shirt a bit to show the stitches in her side, "I wouldn't say I'm completely fine yet. This thing still has to heal. Doctors said for me to take it easy and not move around too much, that way the wound doesn't open back up. I'm sure it won't take too much time. I mean, considering I'm a werewolf and all that."
"Okay but what happens if you transform? Wouldn't that open the wound?" Brandon asked.
Crys thought for a second, then shrugged carelessly. "Well, I guess we'll find out if I wind up transforming." She said. "Still though, it's not as bad as these." She said as she placed a hand on her left side where her scars were. "It'll probably wind up healing perfectly fine."
Brandon took another deep breath, this one of sheer relief, then he walked over to Crys' bed and sat next to her.
A few quiet moments passed by before anyone spoke up again.
"I'm still pretty annoyed though." Crys spoke up. "Now I have to go get another hoodie and shirt because mine got a hole in them. And I doubt you can just wash a blood stain like that out."
Brandon laughed a little. "I can't believe that's what you're worried about." He said.
"I mean, come on, I really liked that hoodie. Now I have to go and buy a whole new one just because some idiots got into a fight, and like, who gets into a knife fight on the first day of school!? That's just so stupid!"
Brandon laughed a bit more. "Well, at least you're okay." He said again.
Crys smiled. "So, what'd everyone have to say about what happened?" She asked.
"Well, if I'm being honest, I didn't really pay much attention. I was mostly just worried about you. The police asked me a few questions, and I told Tomas and Emma about what happened... oh, yeah, you should probably call them when you get the chance, but uh, yeah. A few students asked me about what happened. I think I overheard some people talking about how tough you were. Some others said they were a bit scared. Just some stuff like that, I think. Like I said, I didn't pay much attention."
"Hmm..." Crys pondered. "Well, that's that, I guess. So much for laying low this year." She sighed. "I'll text Tomas and Emma in a bit. I guess I should let them know I'm alright."
"Well, look on the bright side." Brandon said. "Maybe people won't want to mess with us this year because of what happened."
Crys gave a laugh. "That's one way to look at it." She said with a smile. She took a few seconds to think, then frowned. "I'm not in trouble with school, am I?" She asked, just now realizing that she could be in some real hot water.
"I don't think so." Brandon replied. "When I was talking with the police and the principal I made sure to let them know you were just trying to break it up. I think that's what a lot of people said, too, because the principal didn't really say anything about suspending you or anything like that."
"Well, that's nice." Crys said. "Could you imagine if I were to get kicked out on the first day?"
"Well, I bet those two guys are." Brandon said. "Starting a fight like that. I bet we're not gonna see them again."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Some quiet fell on the conversation.
"So," Crys spoke up after a long enough pause, "want to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure." Brandon replied.
The two friends relaxed the rest of the day. Crys made sure to text Tomas and Emma to let them know she was okay. Afterwards, Brandon and Crys went back to zoning out. Neither one of them wanted to think about school after what had happened, so they didn't. They just watched movies and hung out for the rest of the day, and night.